Institutional Issues in the Sustainability of Cross-border Transport

Ports and their regions have experienced at least a century of crisis from wars (e.g., World War I and II), technological change (e.g., containerization and information and computer technology), political change (e.g., end of the Cold War and liberalization of commerce and trade in countries like China and India) and globalization. As such ports have needed to adjust to these conditions to maintain their competitiveness. They have done this by adapting their physical and institutional infrastructures and the adoption of new technologies. In this paper it is argued however that institutional adaptation is the most important way in which ports have changed in pursuit of sustained competitiveness. The paper defines institutions in keeping with the view of the new institutional economists and develops an institutional typology for framing the analyses of four case studies of ports and/or their regions that faced crisis conditions. The case studies include an analysis of the problems and responses made by the ports and then an institutional examination and evaluation of the adjustment process pursued. Conclusions are made as working hypotheses about the process of institutional adjustment to competitiveness crises of ports and their regions and directions for future research are presented.